Will Joe Mauer ever be above an .800 OPS again?

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

After the 2009 season, in which the Twins were again frustratingly eliminated by the Yankees, I could at least look towards the future with a smile given that Mauer would be a long term Twin and the future was bright... At that point, given his first 5 seasons, it seemed Mauer was on pace to become the best catcher of his generation, maybe ever. After three batting titles, three gold gloves, and an MVP, it seems like things have gone horribly wrong...

 

He had three very good years (OPS in the .860 to .880 range) in a four year span from 2010-2013 sandwiched around an injury plagued 2011 season, but his last two years, which also saw a switch to 1B have been mediocre with a .732 OPS last year and .712 OPS this year...

 

Looking back, was his 8 year contract signed in 2010 for the 2011-2018 seasons awful at that point. I realize most people would have predicted a move away from catcher in the latter half of the contract, but to fall from a player with a career OPS at age 30 of .870, and who had a career OPS of .890 when he signed the contract at a premium position...

 

I'm hoping that the Twins will continue their resurgence, and the Brewers, through re-loading will maybe make an EPIC world series possible sometime in the 2018-2020 range, but it kind of sucks to think about all the players I followed on both teams from 2004-2014 are really unlikely to have any impact on those teams at that point.

 

Serious question. If Mauer's contract was up this year (he's got 3 more years), would he even be a full time player next year? I can't see how a team would play his .710 OPS at 1B unless they owed him 3/$69.

[umphrey]

He would be a starting 1B/DH on a team that finishes 3rd or 4th in their division. You could put him on a team that's built around OBP more than the long ball, bat him 5th or 6th and rest him twice a week against LHP and he would be productive but not the kind of guy that is worth $10M/year. On the open market maybe someone gives him 2/$25M or something like that based on his nice 2013 but I think that would be grasping at straws.